Decision and Response Times as a Function of Movement Difficulty in Preschool Children

WALLACE, STEPHEN A.; NEWELL, KARL M.; and WADE, MICHAEL G. Decision and Response Times as a Function of Movement Difficulty in Preschool Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 509-512. This experiment determined whether the motor control of preschool children is affected by the amplitude and tolerance of movement. Using the Fitts paradigm, the reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) to executive movements varying in difficulty were examined over 4 consecutive practice days. Results showed that the amplitude and tolerance of movement did not affect the RT required to initiate movement. However, MT was greatly affected by these variables in a manner predicted by Fitts's Law. Also, the difficulty of movement appeared to affect MT of preschool children to a greater degree than that found previously with adults. Information-processing differences between children and adults were used as a tentative explanation for these results.